Republic Act 1425 Summary:

 Approved on June 12, 1956

 Also called as Rizal Law, mandating all public and private schools to include in their
courses or subjects about the life, works and writing of Jose Rizal, particularly
His noble Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
 The most controversial law-making process under the presidential term of late President Ramon
Magsaysay.

Bonus trvia: There is no law making Rizal as the national hero. He is such by tradition and acclamation.
Rizal was made “official” when the Department of Education in the 1950s made a list of distinct icons of
national nature: the national tree is narra, the national flower is sampaguita, the national animal is the
carabao, the national hero is Jose Rizal, etc.
Perhaps

Issues Raised for RA 1425

 Re-dedication for the ideals of freedom and nationalism for which our heroes lived and
died.
 Honoring or fallen heroes, particularly the national heroes and patriot Dr. Jose Rizal in
order to remember the fondness and devotion their works that shaped the national
character.

Issues Raised against RA 1425

 The controversial part on the RA 1425 was in mandates the reading of Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo considering that the novel in some part were anti-Catholic. For the church, it is
not a constant and inspiring source of patriotism for the minds of the youth.
 The Catholic church finds some passage of Rizal’s novels were deemed offensive to the catholic
faith. Thus, the church argued that Catholics just read selected passages from the novels to
compel its uncensored version to force and violate their freedom of conscience.
 A compromise was suggested with a proposition to utilized “expurgated” versions of the novels
as books in the course reading, with its copies to be held and kept in the school libraries only
accessible with the authority of higher school officials.
 A conflict in the Section 1 of the RA 1425 stating that “Courses on the life, works and writings of
Jose Rizal, particularly his novels, shall be included in the curricula of all schools, colleges and
universities, public or private; Provided that in the collegiate courses, the original or
unexpurgated editions or their English translations shall be used as basic texts.”, thus for the
action, the Board of National Education authorized and directed to adopt forthwith measures to
carry out on the provisions of this section. The Board shall promulgate rules and regulation
providing the exemptions of students, for reason of strict conviction expressed in a composed
articulation, from the necessity of the arrangement contained in the second piece of the
principal passage of this segment; but not from taking the course.
 For the Section 2 of the RA 1425 directing the schools to keep an adequate number of copies of
the novels in the school libraries. The question here was is there any enough supply for the
 school to accommodate to give free access to all students and as if the school libraries has
enough shelves to contain them.
 Section 3 the printing of cheap copies and popular editions of Rizal’s novel and distribute it in
the barangays, free of charge, or those who desire in reading them.